Fire destroys Ardmore home

ARDMORE, OK -- An overheated air conditioning unit damaged a home in Ardmore Wednesday and firefighters warn it could happen to you.

Ardmore firefighters arrived around 11 A.M. Wednesday morning at a home on P Street Northeast. Where homeowner Joe Allgood says a neighbor saw smoke and called for help.

According to Allgood, "A neighbor come, a guy come by and seen the fire and he kicked the door in and started seeing if anyone was in the house, he searched it out and saw there was no one in the house".

No one was home when the fire started, but the family is looking at an estimated $25,000 in fire and smoke damages and have been told not to re-enter the house for safety reasons.

Carin Salazar says, "I think it's mostly the living room but it was smoke damaged so the rest of the house is just smoke damaged but the living room is total loss. The whole house is total loss but mostly the living room."

Firefighters believe the cause was an over-heated air conditioning unit. Ardmore Fire Captain, David Tomlinson, says people should be proactive checking their AC units in the hot summer months.

"Those things this time of year, there being taxed, there being worked hard. So if you've got something that needs servicing, have it serviced. Have it looked at. If you've got something that you think is a potential problem or risk have somebody come look at it because this is definitely an outcome that everybody would want to avoid."

Tomlinson says they believe the fire was likely due to the old age of the of the unit and house. The family says they plan to stay with relatives while they figure out what's next.

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